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August 10, 2022A former Foundations Behavioral Health employee is accused of assaulting a nonverbal patient at the New Britain Borough-based facility in late June, police said Monday.
Central Bucks Regional Police said Jophany Raphael, a former mental health technician at the facility, blocked the victim from leaving his room and assaulted him, causing injuries, on June 26.
Raphael, 25, of Philadelphia, is charged with neglect of care of a dependent person, abuse of care of a dependent person and simple assault, all of which are misdemeanors. He remains free on $250,000 unsecured bail.
A message left for his attorney seeking comment Tuesday was not immediately returned.
Foundations is a behavioral health treatment facility for children, adolescents and young adults, according to its website.
Raphael’s charging documents state the victim, an 18-year-old nonverbal patient with multiple medical disorders related to his mental health, struck an employee in a hallway at the facility in the 800 block of East Butler Avenue about 2:45 p.m. that day.
Staff let him “walk off” his anger, and the victim came back around and tried to hit two other employees, police said.
Raphael tried to restrain the victim, but the victim threw himself to the floor, court documents state.
Staff then let the victim “walk off” the anger again, and Raphael let him go into his room, police said. While inside the room, Raphael blocked him from getting out, according to charging documents. The victim scratched and kicked Raphael, causing him to get mad and “palm” the victim to the ground, police allege.
The victim landed on his back, and Raphael kicked him in the head, chest and stomach while he was on the ground, according to Raphael’s criminal complaint. Other staff members took the victim to the shower, where they saw he had multiple bruises from where Raphael had kicked him, court documents allege.
The victim’s elbow was swollen and he was taken to Abington Hospital for an evaluation. Doctors determined he did not have a fracture in his left arm, however he may have had a small radial neck fracture. The victim was placed in a soft splint.
Central Bucks Regional Police filed charges on Aug. 2, and Raphael was arraigned on them Monday.
Jonathan Lyford, director of business development at Foundations, said Raphael’s employment ended in June.
Raphael’s preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 27.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Ex-Foundations Behavioral Health employee charged with assaulting patient
